A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



upwards of i cwt. It is remarkable for its bril- 

 liant colours. It is an oceanic fish, but not 

 probably an inhabitant of the great depths. It 

 is frequently seen on the coast of Norway, and in 

 Britain the greater number of specimens have 

 been taken in the north. It evidently enters the 

 North Sea from the north, as it has not been 

 recorded on the English coast between Suffolk 

 and Cornwall. 



32. Scad or Horse-mackerel. Caranx irachurus, 



Linn. 

 Common off Lowestoft in the mackerel season, 

 and taken in mackerel nets. 



33. Pilot-fish. Naucrates ductor, Linn. 



The only record seems to be that of Mr. 

 Gurney, who informed Lowe that many years 

 before 1873 he saw a specimen which had been 

 recently caught off the Suffolk coast. 



34. Greater Weever. Trachinus draco, Linn. 



Extremely abundant on the trawling grounds 

 off Lowestoft (Brown Ridges). Numbers are 

 fi-equently seen with red and grey gurnard in 

 heaps in the trawl market, for sale as food. 



35- 



Lesser Weever. 

 Val. 



Trachinus v'tpera, Cuv. and 



Common on the shrimping grounds, such as 

 Newcome Sand, and also on the trawling grounds, 

 but too small to have any market value. It is 

 remarkable that Lowe in his Fishes of Norfolk 

 scoffs at the ' erroneous idea,' which he says 

 was still held by the fishermen, that a wound 

 inflicted by the dorsal fin is poisoned. It may 

 be true that the spines of the dorsal fin are not 

 poisonous, but it is certain that the fish possesses 

 a venomous sting in its opercular spine. The 

 present writer has had painful experience of the 

 effects of a prick from this spine, and can testify- 

 that the venom acts as an irritant to the 

 nerves. It produced the most intense pain, 

 extending from the wound in the thumb up to 

 the shoulder, and lasting for about five minutes, 

 but did not have any other effects. The wound 

 did not become inflamed or festered, and the pain, 

 although almost unbearable while it lasted, soon 

 subsided completely. The involuntary experi- 

 ment was made on board a Lowestoft shrimping 

 boat, and can easily be repeated by anyone who 

 desires further proof. 



36. Dragonet or Skulpin. 

 Linn. 



CaUionymus lyra, 



I saw several specimens taken in the trawl on 

 one of the Lowestoft trawlers in September 

 1895. Probably the species is common on the 

 trawling grounds, as, the fish being small and 

 slender, many would escape through the meshes. 



The male and female in this species are very 

 different and were formerly supposed to be 

 distinct species, the former being known from its 

 brilliant colouring as the gemmeous dragonet and 

 the latter as the sordid dragonet. The male 

 is adorned with vivid blue and yellow markings 

 and has the first dorsal fin greatly elongated. 

 The fishes perform an elaborate process of court- 

 ship when breeding, which was very completely 

 studied by Mr. E. W. L. Holt and described by 

 him in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 

 1898. 



37. Cat-fish or Wolf-fish. Anarrhichas lupus, 

 Linn. 



Is recorded by Paget from Yarmouth and 

 therefore probably occurs occasionally. 



38. Butterfish or Gunnel. 

 Linn. 



Recorded at Yarmouth. 



Centronotus gunnellus. 



39. Viviparous 

 Linn. 



Blenny. Zoarces viviparus, 



Gurney says that adult specimens are found 

 near the beach at Lowestoft, and in the later 

 summer months young ones about an inch in 

 length are abundant in the upper part of the 

 inner harbour, where they frequent the mud 

 banks. 



40. Angler, Fishing-frog, or Monk-fish. Lophius 

 piscatorius, Linn. 



Recorded by Paget at Yarmouth. According 

 to Lowe's fourth list quite a number were 

 captured by the mackerel boats at Lowestoft in 

 the autumn of 1897, but he does not explain 

 how a purely ground fish like this came to be 

 captured in drift nets ; it is usually taken by the 

 trawl. 



ANACANTHINI 



41. Cod. Gadus morrhua, Linn. 



Occurs but is not very abundant. It was not 

 taken in the trawl in the voyage which I made 

 in a Lowestoft smack, but appears occasionally 

 in the records of the International Investigations 

 from Lowestoft grounds. 



42. Haddock. Gadus aeglefinus, Linn, 



Considerable numbers of haddock are landed 

 at Lowestoft, but they are chiefly obtained from 

 the deeper water to the north. On the Brown 

 Ridges where the depth is mostly from 10 to 15 

 fethoms I saw none, and they are not mentioned in 

 the records of the International Investigations as 

 occurring on the grounds off the Suffolk coast. 



166 



